Obama urges bipartisan compromise to raise debt ceiling

President Barack Obama said Friday that Democrats and Republicans are not far apart on an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, but they must forge a compromise that can survive votes in both the House and the Senate.

“There are plenty of ways out of this mess, but we are almost out of time,” he said from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, in his first public remarks since his primetime speech Monday.

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“Keep in mind, this is not a situation where the two parties are miles apart,” Obama said. “We’re in rough agreement about how much spending can be cut responsibly as a first step toward reducing our deficit. We agree on a process where the next step is a debate in the coming months on tax reform and entitlement reform, and I’m ready and willing to have that debate.”

But as Obama spoke, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was inching closer to securing the votes needed to pass his debt-limit bill along partisan lines. After days of wrangling, Boehner was persuading Republicans holdouts by adding a balanced budget amendment provision to the package, which would also raise the debt limit in increments and cut the deficit by $3 trillion.

The move will help Boehner with House Republicans, and reclaim his leverage in the negotiations. But it will only further alienate the White House and the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is now moving ahead with its own proposal.

Boehner’s bill “does not solve the problem and … has no chance of becoming law,” Obama said, as he urged bipartisan compromise.

The bill that passes must have widespread support, and not just that of “one faction,” the president said, referring to the bloc of freshman and tea party-affiliated House Republicans who have been reluctant to agree to any deal to raise the debt ceiling that has the potential to pass the Senate.

“The time for putting party first is over,” he added. “The time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now.”

Obama renewed his call, first issued during a speech Monday, for Americans to “keep it up” and continue writing and calling members of Congress to express their desire for compromise.

“If you want to see a bipartisan compromise, a bill that could pass both houses of Congress and that I can sign, let your members of Congress know. Make a phone call, send an email, tweet.”

The president’s statement came minutes after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced plans to move forward on his own bill to raise the debt ceiling, which is “the last train out of the station.”

Reid also said he had a “very sobering conversation” with Geithner earlier Friday about the difficulties that businesses face amid uncertainty about the debt ceiling. “A short-term extension is not what we need,” he said.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke tied the uncertainty that businesses face to the disappointing growth in the gross domestic product.

“Today’s first look at GDP in the second quarter confirms what we already knew: The economy isn’t growing as fast as it needs to. And every day that we fail to act to lift the debt ceiling and inch closer to default, we threaten our economic progress and job creation,” Locke said.

“Experts have repeatedly warned that if this uncertainty continues, our economy will pay the price. We can’t afford to return to the same failed policies that brought us here. We must build on the progress we’ve made over the last two years and reach a balanced compromise that will reduce our debt and at the same time strengthen our job-creating ability and global competitiveness for the future,” he added.

The baggies complain that the Democrats do not have a plan but fail to mention that they offered up a "clean bill" months ago that could have been voted on without fanfare as Congress has done many times before, ie. SEVEN times under GW Bush (who doubled our National Debt and saddled with war bills expected to top $5 trillion for generations to come).

Recall that President Obama offered up a $4 trillion bill with $3 trillion in cuts (compared to the less than $1 trillion in cuts GOP proposal that can't even get past the baggies) and only $1 trillion in increased revenue. Remember, the $3.7 trillion, non-jobs-creating tax cuts mostly for the rich were unfunded and added to the National Debt. Indeed, the bulk of the National Debt were created by just three presidents--Reagan, Bush I and Bush II.

ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR FIRST QUARTER 2011 REVISED DOWN TO FOUR TENTHS OF ONE PERCENT AFTER ALL OF THE OBAMA PROMISES THAT IF AMERIKA SPENDS MORE MAGIC BORROWED MONEY THE ADMINISTRATION WILL CREATE A ECONOMIC MIRACLE!

Our president is a whiney, spineless leader..........bottom line, there is no two ways about it. This whole debt ceiling crisis ultimately falls on his shoulders and will reverberate through the '12 election. The dems have been kicking the can down the road for about 2 years now avoiding this issue so they could continue their out of control spending.........no surprise that the tea party arose from the grassroots who saw what was happening with the economy. Obamacare could not have passed with the dems tackling this debt crisis when they had the majority, since the bill would not have passed the smell test.........give me a break, most folks see exactly whats going on here, thus Mr. Obama's poll numbers dip deeper everyday........so who's to blame? No matter what the repubs come up with, the senate dems/president will veto......so where does this end?

This episode will pass. What won't pass is unemployment over 9%. GDP at 1.3 % ( As I recall his rosy projections called for 7 % growth ) and a ever worsening economy. The only chance the Democrats have is to abandon the community organizer and draft Hillary.

I know that I have a credit limit of $20,000 and I've maxed out my card but with buying a new car every two years and going out to eat five days a week I've found that I can't make my regular minimum payment. So instead of making my family cut back on spending I require you to raise my credit limit to $40,000 so I can maintain my lifestyle because if you don't raise my credit limit and I don't make my payment it will affect my credit rating. Thanks for understanding.

What kind of national carnage will it take to gain conservative votes for that? That is all this liberal wants to know.

So Mr. Hearing Voices...

Please explain why the exisitng tax code produced revenues in excess of 19% of GDP in 2004-06 but cannot produce the same level of revenues since the Dems took control of Congress?

Please explain the effect on deficits of spending going from 18% of GDP under Clinton to 20% under Bush to 25% under Obama.

What kind of carnage will it take for Dems to stop their intransigence by demanding 18 month extension (as you pointed out it happened every 13 months under Bush) and proclaiming without voting that Republican proposals are dead?

Obama's failure to provide leadership in this matter has been tragic. He has made a messy situation much worse and he has nothing to offer to the Congress. He has proven himself a neophyte.

When the House passed Cut, Cap and Balance the President should have stated that he has significant and material differences with the proposed legislation from House Republicans, but thanked them for their courage to advance the legislation.

Instead, the President showed his inexperience. The President went to the Networks and threw bombs. He hurled insults and tore down what they proposed. The President went looking for a fight, at a time when he should have been looking to work out a deal.

People can try to pin this stalemate upon the Tea Party members in the House, but Obama and Reid were the first to dig in their heels. Now even if something passes in the Senate, why would any Republican in the House support the Senate's work?

Some may want to claim it is NoDrama Obama staying cool under pressure. But to me he appears to be extremely partisan and unwilling to work at a deal. It is my humble opionion, that If we go into default or suffer a downgrade, President Obama will bare the majority of the responsibility.